I have studied Arabic on and off for over ten years. It was a painful process but I am fluent now. The best instruction I ever had was at an institute in Cairo. As far as home study, tapes, etc are concerned, I have tried them all believe me. The one that stands out for me is Pimsleur method tapes/CD's. I still use them to help eliminate my accent and develop speech without hesitation. You can get the modules as CD's and then download them into an iPod to learn while driving or doing other tedious things. Their Russian instruction is good too. They have a large choice of languages. In Arabic I have done both the Egyptian and Eastern Arabic series and they are wonderful. http://www.simonsays.com/content/browse.cfm?pid=523078,369948&tab=13
They aren't cheap but considering what one semester of university Arabic would cost it is a bargain. Plus, I would say that I got a lot more speaking skills from this program than I did from my university Arabic courses. Reading and writing are a different thing.
Good luck, it is a difficult language but it was well worth it for me personally and professionally.
Hi Trito,
I have studied Arabic on and off for over ten years. It was a painful process but I am fluent now. The best instruction I ever had was at an institute in Cairo. As far as home study, tapes, etc are concerned, I have tried them all believe me. The one that stands out for me is Pimsleur method tapes/CD's. I still use them to help eliminate my accent and develop speech without hesitation. You can get the modules as CD's and then download them into an iPod to learn while driving or doing other tedious things. Their Russian instruction is good too. They have a large choice of languages. In Arabic I have done both the Egyptian and Eastern Arabic series and they are wonderful.
http://www.simonsays.com/content/browse.cfm?pid=523078,369948&tab=13
They aren't cheap but considering what one semester of university Arabic would cost it is a bargain. Plus, I would say that I got a lot more speaking skills from this program than I did from my university Arabic courses. Reading and writing are a different thing.
Good luck, it is a difficult language but it was well worth it for me personally and professionally.
Poly-K